Podcast Ad Market Stable In May As Top 15 Spends More Than $60 Million.

Podcast advertising spending continued its steady pace in May, with the top 15 advertisers investing a combined $61.5 million, up slightly from April’s $60.7 million total, according to Magellan AI estimates. The latest rankings show spending remained remarkably stable despite significant turnover among the brands driving growth.

Amazon surged back to the top of the rankings in May, spending an estimated $7.7 million on podcast advertising, more than doubling its April investment and reclaiming the No. 1 position. Quince followed with $6.1 million in spending, while BetterHelp ranked third at $5.1 million. Together, the three advertisers accounted for nearly a third of all spending among the month’s top 15 buyers.

Several established advertisers also increased investments. Toyota climbed to fourth place with $4.7 million in spending, while T-Mobile followed closely at $4.6 million. Shopify remained one of podcasting’s biggest advertisers, spending $4.6 million, while financial platform Public.com invested $4.4 million.

Sports continued to dominate advertiser preferences, serving as the primary genre for a majority of the top spenders. But comedy podcasts also delivered one of their strongest showings of the year. Amazon, Quince, T-Mobile, Shopify, and SimpliSafe all listed comedy as their top genre.

The remainder of the top 15 reflected the broad range of categories investing in podcasting. FanDuel spent $3.6 million, while Apple invested $3.1 million. SimpliSafe and LinkedIn each topped $3 million, with LinkedIn standing out as the only advertiser in the top 15 focused primarily on business podcasts.

The May data extends a pattern that has defined podcast advertising so far in 2026 with steady spending levels despite significant turnover among the brands driving the market. Based on Magellan AI estimates, the top 15 advertisers spent $59.8 million in January, $61.4 million in February, $58 million in March, $60.7 million in April, and $61.5 million in May. That brings year-to-date spending among the top 15 advertisers to approximately $301 million.

While top-line spending remained steady, Magellan AI’s movers and shakers rankings showed a fresh group of advertisers rapidly scaling podcast campaigns. The top 15 movers spent a combined $10.3 million in May, down modestly from April’s $11.4 million total but still reflecting significant new investment entering the medium.

Genting New York led the movers and shakers list after spending nearly $2 million in May following no measurable spending a month earlier. Red Bull ranked second at $1.5 million, increasing spending nearly 18-fold from April. Financial services advertiser OnDeck continued its expansion in podcasting, spending $1.3 million and ranking third among the fastest-growing brands.

Several advertisers entered podcasting after reporting no prior-month spend. Grubhub, AllTrails, and Shutterfly all debuted on the movers list, while brands such as OrderlyMeds, Sleep Number, and Google posted sizable month-to-month gains.

The list also showcased the growing diversity of categories using podcast advertising. Education, food delivery, gaming, automotive, retail, home services, and healthcare advertisers all appeared among May’s fastest-growing brands. Purdue University, Advance Auto Parts, Boar’s Head, TaskRabbit, Aura, and ADT each posted triple-digit percentage increases vs. April.

The monthly rankings are based on Magellan AI’s analysis of advertising activity across the top 3,000 podcasts in the U.S. Estimated spending is derived from a proprietary model that incorporates episode downloads, ad load, CPM data, ad type, network revenue benchmarks, and brand share-of-voice measurements.